Richard Jacques is a name that will need little introduction to any long-standing Sega fan.
The Ivor Novello Award-winning, GRAMMY and BAFTA-nominated composer joined Sega Europe in the '90s to work as the in-house composer, creating music for titles such as Sonic R, Shinobi X, Daytona USA: Championship Circuit Edition, Sega Worldwide Soccer '98, Jet Set Radio and Metropolis Street Racer before going freelance.
Ahead of the BAFTA Games Awards, Jacques was interviewed by Abbey Road Studios about his career in games, and a good portion of the discussion is devoted to the Dreamcast title Headhunter, which holds the distinction of being the first video game to have its score recorded at Abbey Road.
When I started working on Headhunter, I spoke with a director and he wanted a sort of Hollywood type score. So I thought, well, we've got to record it at Abbey Road. That's how things are done properly... We didn't want to do anything substandard, but really push the boundaries of what games are and what the industry is. So I thought, we just need the best musicians at the best studio and to do things properly.
The interview also touches upon Jacques' education in music, what it was like to shift from cartridges to CDs, and the honour of getting to provide the music for a James Bond video game.
Headhunter was developed by Amuze and was followed by a sequel, Headhunter Redemption, on the Xbox and PS2 in 2004. Jacques scored that game, too.
Jacques recently stated that he'd loved to be involved with Sega's upcoming Jet Set Radio title, saying:
If they're listening, I would be very happy to contribute some tracks. I assume Naganuma-san's probably doing some stuff on it, and they'll probably have some licensed tracks, But yeah, I would love to contribute.